Chomolhari

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Chomolhari
Elevation	7,314 metres (23,997 feet)
Location	Bhutan-Tibet
Range	Himalaya
Prominence	2,065 metres
Coordinates	27°49′27″N, 89°16′12″E
First ascent	May 1937
Easiest route	probably from the southeast
Translation	Mountain of the Goddess (Tibetan)

Chomolhari, (Tibetan: ཇོ་མོ་ལྷ་རི jo mo lha ri) sometimes known as "the bride of Kangchenjunga”, is a mountain in the Himalayas, straddling the border between Yadong County of Tibet and the Paro district of Bhutan. The mountain is sacred to Tibetan Buddhists who make an annual pilgrimage from Phari Dzong to the holy lake Chomo Lharang at c. 5100 m just north of the mountain. The north face rises over 2700 metres (9,000 ft) above the barren plains.

Despite its notability and spectacular visibility from the major trade route from India into Tibet's Phari Valley, the mountain has seen very little climbing activity, probably because of access restrictions on the Bhutanese side and the difficulty of the routes from the Tibetan site. The first ascent was made in May 1937 by a five-man British expedition, with Freddie Spencer Chapman and Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama reaching the summit from Bhutan over the south-east spur. The second ascent was in 1970 over the same route by a joint Bhutanese-Indian military expedition led by Colonel Narendra Kumar. The third ascent was made in 1996 by a joint Japanese-Chinese expedition who reached the south col from the Tibetan side and climbed the peak over the south ridge. On May 7 2004, the British climbers Julie-Ann Clyma and Roger Payne reached the summit via the c. 5800 m south col as well, in a single day's dash from the col, after attempts to climb the impressive north-west pillar were thwarted by strong winds [1].

In October 2006, a six-member Slovenian team climbed two new routes, registering the fifth and sixth ascents. Rok Blagus, Tine Cuder, Samo Krmelj and Matej Kladnik took the left couloir of the north face to the East ridge at c. 7100 m, from which they followed the ridge to the top, while Marko Prezelj and Boris Lorencic climbed the north-west ridge in a six-day round trip [2]. This climb earned Prezelj and Lorencic the Piolet d'Or in January 2007. [3]

There is no evidence that the mountain, whose official elevation is very close to a round 24,000 feet, has ever been accurately measured. Its true elevation may be nearer to 7,000 metres.